Tag Archives: Neil Patrick Harris

In the clip above, an interview for the Archive of American Television, Steven Bochco talks about the casting of L.A. Law, one of the seminal TV shows of the 1980s, and one of my personal favorites. Bochco was also the revolutionary guy behind Hill Street Blues, one of my earliest TV memories. He was probably the first … Continue reading The Loss of a TV Giant→

WE ARE MEANT FOR SOMETHING BIGGER. In the near future, scientists find a way to shrink people down to five inches; this ”downsizing” becomes an environmentally friendly, even luxurious, option for a married couple in Omaha (Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig). Alexander Payne worked on this idea for many years before it finally became a movie, … Continue reading Downsizing→

GET READY TO GET NAUGHTY! In an attempt to save his magic powers, Gargamel (Hank Azaria) plans to use Smurfette to lay his hands on a secret formula for creating Smurfs. A sequel made in the same style as the original, with many of the same cast members returning. Whatever charm the first film had … Continue reading The Smurfs 2→

SOMETHING BIG WAS LEFTOVER. Recruited by the world’s most successful inventor, Flint Lockwood and his friends return to their island where a habitat of living food animals has formed. A contrived sequel if there ever was one, but considering how crazy the first movie was – why not? The filmmakers are having a lot of … Continue reading Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2→

PREPARE TO GET SERVED. When an aspiring inventor comes up with a machine that turns water into all kinds of foods, he accidentally makes it so powerful that it shoots up into the sky and creates a cheeseburger rain over his island; fun at first, the machine becomes dangerous. A wacky adaptation of a … Continue reading Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs→

Neil Patrick Harris is hosting next year’s Academy Awards. Anyone who has seen him helm the Tonys or the Emmys knows that this is good news. I’ll soon get to why, but let us first kick off a list of who’s hosted the past seven years and how they merit: 2008: Jon Stewart – This was … Continue reading The 7 Most Recent Oscar Hosts Rated→

BRING PROTECTION. Arizona, 1882; sheep farmer Albert Stark (Seth MacFarlane) loses his girlfriend (Amanda Seyfried) due to a lack of ambition and courage, but a newcomer (Charlize Theron) in town tries to help him win her back. MacFarlane’s second directing effort reunites the same writers who made Ted (2012) so funny, but results this time … Continue reading A Million Ways to Die in the West→

ADVENTURE DOESN’T GET ANY BIGGER. The blue little creatures known as Smurfs are sucked into a vortex along with their arch-enemy Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and they all end up in New York City. Director Raja Gosnell brought Scooby-Doo to life in a 2002 movie, so it comes as no surprise that he was also hired … Continue reading The Smurfs→

THEY’RE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK. On a visit to Los Angeles, two brothers who are huge fans of the Muppets realize that the old studio closed down years ago… and now the showbiz gang are in danger of losing everything, including their name. The first Muppet movie in 12 years wisely, cleverly and disarmingly acknowledge … Continue reading The Muppets→

Save the best piece for last. 13 years after graduating high school, Jim (Jason Biggs) and his friends are all headed back to Michigan for a reunion that promises to spiral out of control as soon as Stifler (Seann William Scott) shows up. The Harold & Kumar directors bring back the American Pie franchise with a fourth movie and almost … Continue reading American Reunion→

1 OUT OF EVERY 8 AMERICANS IS AFRAID OF FLYING. MOST OF THEM DON’T HAVE FEATHERS. Blu, a domesticated member of the critically endangered species of Spix’s Macaw, journeys with his owner to Rio de Janeiro where the bird hopefully will mate with another macaw, Jewel. The Ice Age director delivers another grand adventure that will please kids. … Continue reading Rio→

BEST FRIENDS MAKE THE BEST MISTAKES. Yoga instructor Abbie Reynolds (Madonna) gets drunk one evening and ends up in bed with her equally inebriated best friend Robert (Rupert Everett), who’s actually gay; then she learns she’s pregnant… Here’s a serious drama that tries to examine the concept of modern families, but the filmmakers’ ambitions are … Continue reading The Next Best Thing→

The Grades

TV shows, TV movies and miniseries are graded this way:ABOVE AVERAGE
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A blog on movies & TV, Hollywood and beyond.

I studied film at Halmstad University and practical filmmaking at the New York Film Academy. Now I'm a critic for the Swedish daily Aftonbladet. Opinions expressed on this personal website are solely mine and not related to Aftonbladet.